---

Wikipedia

4h

Portal:Current events/2020 May 26

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghan peace process
  • The government urges the Taliban to extend the three-day truce due to expire today. It also announces the government will release 900 Taliban prisoners today. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation, COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
  • LATAM Airlines, the largest air carrier in Latin America, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

• Huge swarms of desert locusts destroy crops in central and western India prompting authorities to step up their response to the country's worst plague in nearly three decades. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Costa Rica
  • Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage. (Reuters)
• LGBT rights in Zambia
  • Zambian President Edgar Lungu pardons a gay couple jailed for 15 years due to consensual homosexual acts amid a mass wave of pardons of nearly 3,000 inmates to celebrate Africa Freedom Day. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• The Social Democratic Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Fiji's parliament, is suspended in parliament for 60 days amid a political feud which has caused its appointments to be declared null and void. The party's parliament leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, said the decision will not be appealed. (RNZ)

---

Wikipedia

4h

Portal:Current events/2020 May 25

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
  • The Bulgarian captain of Portuguese-flagged cargo ship the Tommi Ritscher, who was kidnapped along with seven other sailors by pirates off the coast of Benin last month, is freed. The captain was kidnapped at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on April 19. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• List of earthquakes in 2020, list of earthquakes in New Zealand
  • A 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes west of Wellington, New Zealand. No injuries are reported. (The Guardian)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
  • Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifts the state of emergency in all remaining parts of the country, including Tokyo. (Associated Press)

International relations

• European migrant crisis
  • The Coast Guard of Libya stops nearly 400 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in five boats in the past two days, according to the office for migrants of the United Nations. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• The government of Cyprus will deport 17 immigrants suspected of having links to extremist groups or involved in acts of terrorism. (AP News)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Burundian general election
  • Candidate for the ruling party, National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, and retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye wins the election with 68.72% of votes cast amid an election preceded by political violence including the arrest, torture and murder of opposition activists, according to a local human rights group. (Reuters)
• 2020 Surinamese general election
  • Citizens of Suriname head to the polls in the country's latest general election. It is the first election after Suriname's president Dési Bouterse was convicted of murder for the December murders in 1982. (BBC)

---

Wikipedia

1d

Portal:Current events/2020 May 24

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghan peace process
  • President Ashraf Ghani pledges to speed up the release of more Taliban prisoners, and asks that the Taliban release more government prisoners in return. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Somalia
  • At least five people are killed and twenty others injured by a car bomb during an Eid festival in Baidoa, Bay. No claims of responsibility have been reported. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • The Army of Ivory Coast and the military of Burkina Faso report that they conducted a joint operation against jihadists at the border between the two countries, killing eight suspected militants and arresting fourteen more. The operation is ongoing. (Reuters)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
    • Wagner Group fighters withdraw from the frontline near Tripoli, after the Libyan National Army suffers a series of defeats. The mayor of Bani Walid says the Russians, who are allied to Khalifa Haftar, retreated to his town then left Bani Walid Airport on three military planes to Al Jufra Airbase, while their heavy equipment were driven there. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• of the coast of Western Australia is battered by a "once in a decade" storm. (The Guardian)

International relations

• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • In his first appearance in three weeks, leader Kim Jong-un meets with state officials to discuss improving nuclear war deterrence measures, including increased artillery firepower. (Reuters)
• Iran–Venezuela relations
  • The first of five Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela to deliver fuel enters Venezuelan territorial waters, after being escorted by the Venezuelan Air Force and Navy. Both Iran and Venezuela warned the United States not to interfere with the delivery. (BBC)

Law and crime

• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. (Middle East Eye)

Politics and elections

• National People's Congress Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation
  • Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong to oppose a controversial national security law expected to be passed by China's National People's Congress. (BBC) (CNN) (Reuters)

---

Wikipedia

10h

Portal:Current events/2020 May 23

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan, Afghan peace process
  • The Taliban declares a three-day Eid ceasefire starting on Sunday. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid orders all attacks to cease and only use force "if any action is taken against you by the enemy". Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomes the ceasefire and orders the armed forces of Afghanistan to "comply with the three-days truce and to defend only if attacked". (National Post) (Reuters)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
    • Forces of the international-recognized Libyan government retake two military camps, Hamza and Yarmuk, from forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. (Anadolu Agency)

Disasters and accidents

• A four-alarm fire destroys a warehouse at Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. More than 150 firefighters are able to contain the blaze and save both the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a World War II Liberty ship that saw action on D-Day at Normandy Beach in northwest France; and the USS Pampanito submarine, which had six war patrols from March 1944 through early 1945 in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. (KPIX) (The Guardian)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
  • China reports no new cases for the first time since the pandemic began, according to the National Health Commission. (Reuters)
• COVID-19 pandemic in the State of Palestine
  • The Gaza Strip reports the first death from COVID-19, a 77-year-old woman. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirms that independent member of the Verkhovna Rada Valeriy Davydenko has been found dead in his office in Kiev with a gunshot wound to the head. (Kyiv Post)

Politics and elections

• COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Thousands of protesters, mostly supporters of the far-right party Vox, participate in car protests in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and other cities against the continuing lockdown and the national government. (BBC)

---

Wikipedia

3h

Portal:Current events/2020 May 22

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coronavirus recession
  • Europe's largest coach operator Shearings collapses into administration with 2,460 immediate job losses and thousands of holidays cancelled. (The Guardian)
  • American car rental company Hertz files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to accumulating nearly $19 billion in debt. (CBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303
  • An Airbus A320 carrying 99 people crashes in a residential area near Karachi Airport, Pakistan. Ninety-seven people onboard are killed; the other two survive with injuries. Some people on the ground were also wounded when the plane crashed near houses. (BBC News)
• Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declares states of emergency in Gladwin, Saginaw and Arenac counties due to the Edenville Dam failure and subsequent flooding of the Tittabawassee River earlier this week. (WJRT-TV)
• A tractor-trailer and a truck carrying passengers crash head-on on a highway in Darfur, Sudan, causing 57 deaths and 20 injuries. (Associated Press via ABC News)
• Hooghalen train crash
  • A collision between a train and agricultural vehicle on a level crossing in Hooghalen, Drenthe, the Netherlands. The machinist died. (NOS)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
    • Governor Gretchen Whitmer extends her state's stay-at-home order until June 12 and its state of emergency until June 19. (The Detroit News)

Law and crime

• A gunman kills seven people in Ukraine's Zhytomyr Oblast after a drunken quarrel during a fishing trip. The perpetrator is arrested afterwards. (MSN)

Politics and elections

• 2020 New Zealand National Party leadership election
  • Todd Muller defeats Simon Bridges to become the new leader of the National Party, and the Leader of the Opposition. (Newshub)
• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • Hong Kong executive says that the newly-proposed security law will not hamper judicial independence. Many activists condemn the move; the organizer of many of last year's protests and convener of the Civil Human Rights Front Jimmy Sham says that the law is a "nuclear bomb" dropped by "the Chinese Communist Party" and calls for mass protests. Activist Joshua Wong also condemns the law and calls it a law "to silence Hongkongers". (The Standard Hong Kong)
• Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
  • Following accusations by former Justice Minister Sérgio Moro and a judicial order, footage from a controversial Brazilian Cabinet meeting is released to the media. The profanity-laden footage shows President Jair Bolsonaro calling for political interference in security organs to protect his family; Bolsonaro alleges this was a reference to his private security team, while Moro says that Bolsonaro was referring to Federal Police investigations. (Al Jazeera)
  • The footage also shows Environment Minister Ricardo Salles calling for the deregulation of environmental policies while the press is "distracted" by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

---

Wikipedia

3d

Portal:Current events/2020 May 21

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Terrorism in the United States
  • A motorist opens fire and attempts to breach the perimeter of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, injuring a security guard, before being shot and killed. FBI officials determine the incident to be terrorism-related and say a second person of interest may be at large. The shooter is later identified as a Syria-born man who expressed support for ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. (ABC News) (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• Three women are killed in a stampede in Colombo, Sri Lanka, during an US$8 cash handout at a businessman's warehouse. (Al Jazeera)
• U.S. President Donald Trump approves Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's emergency declaration in Midland County which experienced mass flooding after the Edenville Dam failed two days ago. The order authorizes FEMA to assist state and local officials with the emergency response. (WEYI-TV)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • The number of worldwide cases of COVID-19 surpasses five million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 31% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (CNN)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations
  • The Trump administration announces it will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty within six months, alleging continuous violations by Russia. (BBC)

Law and crime

• European migrant crisis
  • The European Court of Justice rules that Hungarian authorities circumvented EU law by holding Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers in unlawful detention at a camp near the Serbian border. (DW)
• A military court in Vietnam sentences former deputy defense minister Nguyễn Văn Hiến to four years in prison for allowing three plots of land in Ho Chi Minh City to be illegally transferred from the Navy to private investors. He is also stripped of his Communist Party credentials. (Reuters)
• The Regents of the University of California votes unanimously to scrap the use of SATs and ACTs for admission to any of the college system's campuses, effective 2025. (The New York Times)

---

Wikipedia

3d

Portal:Current events/2020 May 20

International relations

• Afghan peace process
  • Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada says his group is "committed to a landmark deal with the U.S." despite carrying out hundreds of attacks against Afghan forces since February. Akhundzada also urged the U.S. "to not afford anyone the opportunity to obstruct, delay and ultimately derail this internationally recognised bilateral agreement". (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia
  • Bolivian Minister of Health is dismissed and arrested in graft probe over ventilators bought in a Spanish company. (Bloomberg)
• 2020 Westgate Entertainment District shooting
  • A gunman opens fire near the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona. Three people are injured, one seriously. The gunman is taken into custody. (CBS)
• In a hearing conducted over Zoom, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a court in Singapore sentences a 37-year-old Malaysian man to death for a 2011 heroin transaction. It is the first time that a death sentence has been imposed via teleconferencing in Singapore. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• Missing WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard's body is found on a California beach. (CNN)
• U.S. authorities in Massachusetts arrest a father and son, aged 59 and 27, who have been charged in Japan with helping Carlos Ghosn, former Chairman of Nissan, to escape from Japan to Lebanon last year. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Burundian general election
  • Citizens of Burundi head to the polls to elect their president and the members of the National Assembly. Following a campaign marred by violence, the election takes place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and a social media blackout. Regional and international election observers have been blocked from monitoring the election, raising doubts about its fairness. (DW)